Former Syracuse football head coach Dick MacPherson remembers his first encounter with Syracuse Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel. MacPherson, then Massachusetts’ head football coach, had a game against Crouthamel’s Dartmouth squad.

MacPherson desperately searched for game tape of Dartmouth, but didn’t have much success. Why? Crouthamel, always scheming, concealed all the film on his team.

‘I chased him all over New England,’ MacPherson said.

Though MacPherson had no luck tracking Crouthamel back in the 1970s, the two worked closely together more than a decade later, building a strong Syracuse football program.

MacPherson and several other Syracuse coaches and administrators gathered Wednesday to hear Crouthamel announce his retirement as Syracuse’s athletic director. The retirement, which has been in the works for two years, is effective June 30, 2005.

‘He’s a football coach’s dream,’ MacPherson said. ‘He gives you everything you need for a successful program.’But after more than 26 years on the job, Crouthamel has affected more than the football program. While many coaches saw Crouthamel’s retirement coming in the future because of his age, none saw it happening so soon.

He announced his decision to all Syracuse head coaches Wednesday morning. Most of the coaches, including football coach Paul Pasqualoni, men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim and men’s lacrosse head coach John Desko attended his retirement press conference.

Besides SU’s big name coaches, one of the coaches who Crouthamel perhaps affected the most is softball coach Mary Jo Firnbach. Crouthamel hired Firnbach as SU’s first softball coach in 1998 and immediately committed much time and effort to the program.

Firnbach said if not for Crouthamel’s commitment, she wouldn’t have agreed to help start a new program. Crouthamel personally oversaw and ensured the completion of Skytop Softball Stadium. Throughout his press conference, Crouthamel repeatedly acknowledged his work on the softball program as one of his proudest accomplishments.

‘He always had his hands on everything,’ Firnbach said. ‘He’s at our games all the time. He throws out the first pitch sometimes. I’ve been at a lot of institutions with a lot of ADs that are not all that involved. He makes the players know they’re important.’

Crouthamel’s influence extends beyond Syracuse. He helped create the Big East basketball conference in 1979 and worked to build a football conference in 1991. Because of this work outside Syracuse, he’s earned great respect among his peers.

Last year, with the departure of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East, Crouthamel was one of the leaders in holding the conference together and adding five new members.

‘For him, a handshake actually means something; there are not too many people like that left in our business,’ Villanova Athletic Director Vince Nicastro said.

Said Rutgers Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy: ‘He is a resource that people can go to for any questions because of his experience. His success is as great as anybody I know in the business. Not only respect, but affection that everyone has for him. He has become almost a legend.’

Here at Syracuse, though, Crouthamel’s influence will be missed the most. Most coaches have never worked with another athletic director. Many have established personal relationships with Crouthamel.

They know him beyond the sometimes-cold persona that Crouthamel gives off in the media. They know how much Crouthamel has meant to Syracuse in his 26 years on the job – something that’s often overlooked with the recent struggles of the football team.

‘I haven’t known anyone but Jake in all my years as a player and as a coach at Syracuse,’ Desko said. ‘He and I have been together for so many years. Being here so long allows me to better understand how much he has done for SU.’

Staff writer Ethan Ramsey contributed to this report.

Published on November 17, 2004 at 12:00 pm